Divider for carpenters



DIVIDER FOR CARPENTERS Filed Dec. 15, 1958 Jan-Yves COLL/N PATENT AGENT United States Patent DIVIDER FOR CARPENTERS Jean-Yves Collin, 6241 3rd Ave., Rosemont, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Filed Dec. 15, 1958, Ser. No. 780,403

4 Claims. (CI. 33-41) The present invention relates to dividers and more particularly to the combination of a divider with a level, more specifically designed to be used by carpenters for scribing purposes.

Carpenters often have to fit a panel, plank or the like to an irregular contour. To do this, a scriber is used which is simply a divider or compass for marking off on the panel to be fitted, points all equally distant from the irregular contour to thereby form an outline on the panel which is sawn or cut to form the edge conforming to the irregular contour.

When the irregular contour is part of a vertical wall and the outline has to be drawn by measuring horizontal distances from said contour, the two points or tips of the divider have to be maintained in exactly a horizontal plane in order to obtain accurate measurement. This is very difiicult to obtain in practice so that the scribing operation usually lacks in accuracy.

The object of the present invention is therefore the combination of a divider with a level to obviate the above noted disadvantages.

An important object of the present invention is the provision of a combined divider and level so arranged that the axis of the level assembly will remain exactly parallel to the line joining the tips or points of the legs of the divider irrespective of the spacing of said legs whereby the divider can be used to measure off horizontal distances with accuracy irrespective of the inclination of the divider.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provision of a combination divider and level to form a scriber in which the. level is rotatably mounted about its longitudinal axis, so as to be able to have the air bubble facing upwardly and have the level in operative position despite variation in the inclination of the instrument whereby the latter can be used in a position most convenient for the user.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of an instrument of the character described which is of simple and inexpensive construction.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the instrument;

Figure 2 is an end view of the same;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the level assembly;

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of parts of the level assembly; and

Figure 5 is a cross-section of a wall with molding and in elevation, a plank to be fitted to the molding, showing how the instrument of the present invention is used for scribing purposes.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like elements throughout, the divider or compass of the present invention is generally indicated at A (Figure 5) and comprises a pair of legs 1 which are pivotally connected to each other at 2 at their ends opposite the small point or tip of said legs. A straight bar 3 having an axially extending slot 3' is pivotally connected at 4 to one leg 1 and a clamping bolt 5 in the form of a wing bolt passes through the slot 3' and threadedly engages the other leg 1 of the divider to clamp the bar 3 in adjusted position and therefore lock the legs 1 at an adjusted distance apart. The bar 3 is preferably made of sheet metal stamped to provide integral eyes 6 which are apertured lugs bent at right angles to the main planet the bar 3. The eyes 6 are in alignment andthe axis passing through the center of said eyes is parallel to the slot 3' and because said slot is straight, the center line of the eyes 6 will thus always remain parallel to the line connecting the tips of the legs 1 irrespective of the spacing of said legs. i i Y A level assembly generally indicated at 7 is mounted in the eyes 6. The level assembly 7 comprises a spirit tube 8 of curved form and provided with the usual leveling marks 9 and partially filled with spirit to form an air bubble 10. The spirit tube 8 is fixedly located within a groove 11 of a housing 12 of cylindrical shape with solid ends, and said housing 12 is in turn disposed within a tube 13 having an opening 13' at the center thereof through which the central part of the spirit tube 8 will appear, together with leveling marks 9. The tube 13 is inwardly threaded at its two ends for receiving set screws 14 which serve to clamp the housing 12 in the proper position within tube 13. The set screws 14 have a knurled head and a step forming a cylindrical bearing surface 15 adapted to engage the inner edges of the eyes 6, said eyes 6 and bearing surfaces 15 forming journals for free rotational movement of the level assembly about its longitudinal axis with respect to the bar 3.

Thus, the level assembly can be always rotated so as to have the air bubble 10 always facing upwardly irrespective of the inclination of the divider A.

The divider of the present invention is thus capable of being used to measure accurately horizontal distances taken on vertical or inclined planes because the tips of the legs 1 can be maintained exactly on a horizontal line as said tips can be leveled by means of the level assembly 7 and this irrespective of the inclination of the divider and of the distance apart of the legs 1.

Figure 6 illustrates a particular use of the divider. Figure 6 shows a vertically disposed board B which it is intended to fit to the molding D on vertical wall E. In order to do this, an outline C has to be marked off on the board B corresponding to the contour of molding D. The board B is maintained at a suitable distance from the wall E and the divider A in accordance with the present invention is used for marking off the outline C. It will be noted that the tips of the legs can be easily maintained in a horizontal line to provide for accurate measurement by leveling with level 7 and this is achieved despite the fact that the spacing between the legs will be constantly varied to measure the several different horizontal distances. Also, the user will normally handle the divider in such a way that the latter will be inclined downwardly toward the user when points above the head of the user have to be measured while the dividers will be inclined upwardly for positions near the floor. Whenwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: l

1. A divider comprising, in combination, a pair of rigid legs of equal length having tips at one end and pivotally interconnected at their other end, a straight slotted bar pivotally connected to one leg intermediate the ends of the latter, clamping means mounted on the other leg and engageable with the slot of said bar in order to clamp said legs at any adjusted angular position, the pivotal and clamping connections of said bar to said legs being equally spaced from the respective tips of the legs, lugs on said bar, a level assembly supported by said lugs and rotatable about its longitudinal axis, said longitudinal axis being parallel to a line joining the pivotal and clamping connections of said bar to said legs and remaining parallel to a line joining the tips of said legs irrespective of the distance between said tips.

2. A divider as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bar is made of sheet metal and said lugs are integral therewith and bent at right angles to said sheet to provide eyes the center of which are in alignment along a line which is parallel to said slot.

3. A divider as claimed in claim 2, wherein said level assembly is retained within said eyes while being freely rotatable relative to the same.

4. A divider as claimed in claim 1, wherein said level assembly comprises a cylindrical housing having a longitudinal groove, a spirit tube disposed within said groove, a tube for housing said body and spirit tube, and set screws threadedly engaging the ends of said housing tube and bearing against the ends of said grooved housing, said screws providing bearing surfaces engaging the said lugs for free rotational movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 511,377 Traut Dec. 26, 1893 617,082 Culver Jan. 3, 1899 786,720 King Jan. 14, 1908 2,827,701 Goehring Mar. 25, 1958 

